yadm/yadm.md

## NAME
       yadm - Yet Another Dotfiles Manager


## SYNOPSIS
       yadm command [options]

       yadm git-command-or-alias [options]

       yadm init [-f] [-w dir]

       yadm clone url [-f] [-w dir] [-b branch] [--bootstrap] [--no-bootstrap]

       yadm config name [value]

       yadm config [-e]

       yadm list [-a]

       yadm bootstrap

       yadm encrypt

       yadm enter

       yadm decrypt [-l]

       yadm alt

       yadm perms

       yadm upgrade

       yadm introspect category


## DESCRIPTION
       yadm is a tool for managing a collection of files across multiple  com-
       puters,  using  a  shared Git repository.  In addition, yadm provides a
       feature to select alternate versions of files for  particular  systems.
       Lastly,  yadm  supplies the ability to manage a subset of secure files,
       which are encrypted before they are included in the repository.


## COMMANDS
       git-command or git-alias
              Any command not internally handled by yadm is passed through  to
              git(1).   Git commands or aliases are invoked with the yadm man-
              aged repository.  The working directory for Git commands will be
              the configured work-tree (usually $HOME).

              Dotfiles  are  managed by using standard git commands; add, com-
              mit, push, pull, etc.

              The config command is not passed directly through.  Instead  use
              the gitconfig command (see below).

       alt    Create  symbolic  links  and  process  templates for any managed
              files matching the naming rules described in the ALTERNATES  and
              TEMPLATES  sections.  It is usually unnecessary to run this com-
              mand, as yadm automatically  processes  alternates  by  default.
              This  automatic behavior can be disabled by setting the configu-
              ration yadm.auto-alt to "false".

       bootstrap
              Execute $HOME/.config/yadm/bootstrap if it exists.

       clone url
              Clone a remote repository for tracking dotfiles.  After the con-
              tents  of  the remote repository have been fetched, a "merge" of
              origin/master is attempted.   If  there  are  conflicting  files
              already  present  in  the  work-tree,  this  merge will fail and
              instead a "reset" of origin/master will be done, followed  by  a
              "stash". This "stash" operation will preserve the original data.

              You can review the stashed conflicts by running the command

                     yadm stash show -p

              from within your $HOME directory. If you  want  to  restore  the
              stashed data, you can run

                     yadm stash apply
              or
                     yadm stash pop

              The  repository  is  stored  in $HOME/.config/yadm/repo.git.  By
              default, $HOME will be used as the work-tree, but  this  can  be
              overridden  with the -w option.  yadm can be forced to overwrite
              an existing repository by providing the -f option.  If you  want
              to  use  a  branch  other than origin/master, you can specify it
              using the -b option.  By default yadm will ask the user  if  the
              bootstrap  program  should  be  run  (if it exists). The options
              --bootstrap or --no-bootstrap will either force the bootstrap to
              be  run,  or  prevent  it  from being run, without prompting the
              user.

       config This command manages  configurations  for  yadm.   This  command
              works  exactly  they way git-config(1) does.  See the CONFIGURA-
              TION section for more details.

       decrypt
              Decrypt all files stored in $HOME/.config/yadm/files.gpg.  Files
              decrypted  will be relative to the configured work-tree (usually
              $HOME).  Using the -l option will list the files stored  without
              extracting them.

       encrypt
              Encrypt  all  files  matching  the patterns found in $HOME/.con-
              fig/yadm/encrypt.  See the ENCRYPTION section for more  details.

       enter  Run  a  sub-shell with all Git variables set. Exit the sub-shell
              the same way you leave  your  normal  shell  (usually  with  the
              "exit"  command).  This sub-shell can be used to easily interact
              with your yadm repository using "git" commands.  This  could  be
              useful if you are using a tool which uses Git directly.

              For  example,  Emacs  Tramp  and Magit can manage files by using
              this configuration:

                  (add-to-list 'tramp-methods
                       '("yadm"
                         (tramp-login-program "yadm")
                         (tramp-login-args (("enter")))
                         (tramp-login-env (("SHELL") ("/bin/sh")))
                         (tramp-remote-shell "/bin/sh")
                         (tramp-remote-shell-args ("-c"))))

              With this config, use  (magit-status  "/yadm::").  If  you  find
              issue  with  Emacs  27  and  zsh, trying running (setenv "SHELL"
              "/bin/bash").

       gitconfig
              Pass options to the git config command. Since yadm already  uses
              the  config  command to manage its own configurations, this com-
              mand is provided as a way to change configurations of the repos-
              itory  managed  by  yadm.  One useful case might be to configure
              the repository so untracked files are shown in status  commands.
              yadm initially configures its repository so that untracked files
              are not shown.  If you wish use the  default  Git  behavior  (to
              show  untracked files and directories), you can remove this con-
              figuration.

                     yadm gitconfig --unset status.showUntrackedFiles

       help   Print a summary of yadm commands.

       init   Initialize a new, empty repository for tracking  dotfiles.   The
              repository   is   stored   in  $HOME/.config/yadm/repo.git.   By
              default, $HOME will be used as the work-tree, but  this  can  be
              overridden  with the -w option.  yadm can be forced to overwrite
              an existing repository by providing the -f option.

       list   Print a list of files managed by yadm.  The -a option will cause
              all  managed  files to be listed.  Otherwise, the list will only
              include files from the current directory or below.

       introspect category
              Report internal yadm data. Supported  categories  are  commands,
              configs, repo, and switches.  The purpose of introspection is to
              support command line completion.

       perms  Update permissions as described in the PERMISSIONS section.   It
              is  usually  unnecessary  to run this command, as yadm automati-
              cally processes permissions by default. This automatic  behavior
              can  be disabled by setting the configuration yadm.auto-perms to
              "false".

       upgrade
              Version 2 of yadm uses a different directory  for  storing  your
              configurations.   When  you start to use version 2 for the first
              time, you may see warnings about moving your data  to  this  new
              directory.   The  easiest  way  to accomplish this is by running
              "yadm upgrade".  This command will start  by  moving  your  yadm
              repo  to the new path.  Next it will move any configuration data
              to the new path.  If the configurations are tracked within  your
              yadm repo, this command will "stage" the renaming of those files
              in the repo's index.  Upgrading will also re-initialize all sub-
              modules  you  have added (otherwise they will be broken when the
              repo moves).  After running "yadm upgrade", you should run "yadm
              status"  to  review  changes  which have been staged, and commit
              them to your repository.

              You can read https://yadm.io/docs/upgrade_from_1 for more infor-
              mation.

       version
              Print the version of yadm.


## COMPATIBILITY
       Beginning  with  version  2.0.0, yadm introduced a couple major changes
       which may require you to adjust your configurations.  See  the  upgrade
       command for help making those adjustments.

       First, yadm now uses the "XDG Base Directory Specification" to find its
       configurations. You can  read  https://yadm.io/docs/upgrade_from_1  for
       more information.

       Second,  the  naming conventions for alternate files have been changed.
       You can read https://yadm.io/docs/alternates for more information.

       If you want to retain the old functionality, you can set an environment
       variable,  YADM_COMPATIBILITY=1.   Doing  so will automatically use the
       old yadm directory, and process alternates the same  as  the  pre-2.0.0
       version.  This compatibility mode is deprecated, and will be removed in
       future versions. This mode exists solely for transitioning to  the  new
       paths and naming of alternates.


## OPTIONS
       yadm  supports a set of universal options that alter the paths it uses.
       The default paths are documented in the FILES section. Any path  speci-
       fied  by  these  options must be fully qualified. If you always want to
       override one or more of these paths, it may  be  useful  to  create  an
       alias  for the yadm command.  For example, the following alias could be
       used to override the repository directory.

              alias yadm='yadm --yadm-repo /alternate/path/to/repo'

       The following is the full  list  of  universal  options.   Each  option
       should be followed by a fully qualified path.

       -Y,--yadm-dir
              Override  the  yadm directory.  yadm stores its data relative to
              this directory.

       --yadm-repo
              Override the location of the yadm repository.

       --yadm-config
              Override the location of the yadm configuration file.

       --yadm-encrypt
              Override the location of the yadm encryption configuration.

       --yadm-archive
              Override the location of the yadm encrypted files archive.

       --yadm-bootstrap
              Override the location of the yadm bootstrap program.


## CONFIGURATION
       yadm uses a configuration file named  $HOME/.config/yadm/config.   This
       file  uses the same format as git-config(1).  Also, you can control the
       contents of the configuration file via the yadm config  command  (which
       works exactly like git-config).  For example, to disable alternates you
       can run the command:

              yadm config yadm.auto-alt false

       The following is the full list of supported configurations:

       yadm.alt-copy
              If set to "true", alternate files will be copies instead of sym-
              bolic  links.  This might be desirable, because some systems may
              not properly support symlinks.

              NOTE: The deprecated yadm.cygwin-copy option used by older  ver-
              sions  of  yadm  has  been  replaced  by yadm.alt-copy.  The old
              option will be removed in the next version of yadm.

       yadm.auto-alt
              Disable the automatic linking described in  the  section  ALTER-
              NATES.  If  disabled,  you  may still run "yadm alt" manually to
              create the alternate links. This feature is enabled by  default.

       yadm.auto-exclude
              Disable   the   automatic   exclusion  of  patterns  defined  in
              $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt.  This feature is enabled by default.

       yadm.auto-perms
              Disable  the  automatic permission changes described in the sec-
              tion PERMISSIONS.  If disabled, you may  still  run  yadm  perms
              manually  to  update  permissions.   This  feature is enabled by
              default.

       yadm.auto-private-dirs
              Disable the automatic creating of private directories  described
              in the section PERMISSIONS.

       yadm.git-program
              Specify  an  alternate  program  to  use  instead  of "git".  By
              default, the first "git" found in $PATH is used.

       yadm.gpg-perms
              Disable the permission changes to $HOME/.gnupg/*.  This  feature
              is enabled by default.

       yadm.gpg-program
              Specify  an  alternate  program  to  use  instead  of "gpg".  By
              default, the first "gpg" found in $PATH is used.

       yadm.gpg-recipient
              Asymmetrically encrypt files with a gpg public/private key pair.
              Provide  a "key ID" to specify which public key to encrypt with.
              The key must exist in your public keyrings.  If  left  blank  or
              not  provided,  symmetric encryption is used instead.  If set to
              "ASK", gpg will  interactively  ask  for  recipients.   See  the
              ENCRYPTION  section  for more details.  This feature is disabled
              by default.

       yadm.ssh-perms
              Disable the permission changes to $HOME/.ssh/*.  This feature is
              enabled by default.

       The  following  four  "local"  configurations  are  not  stored  in the
       $HOME/.config/yadm/config, they are stored in the local repository.


       local.class
              Specify a class for the purpose of symlinking  alternate  files.
              By default, no class will be matched.

       local.hostname
              Override  the  hostname  for the purpose of symlinking alternate
              files.

       local.os
              Override the OS for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.

       local.user
              Override the user for the purpose of symlinking alternate files.


## ALTERNATES
       When managing a set of files across different systems, it can be useful
       to have an automated way of choosing an alternate version of a file for
       a different operating system, host, user, etc.

       yadm  will automatically create a symbolic link to the appropriate ver-
       sion of a file, when a valid suffix is appended to  the  filename.  The
       suffix  contains  the  conditions  that must be met for that file to be
       used.

       The suffix begins with "##", followed by any number of conditions sepa-
       rated by commas.

         ##<condition>[,<condition>,...]

       Each  condition is an attribute/value pair, separated by a period. Some
       conditions do not require a "value", and in that case, the  period  and
       value  can  be  omitted. Most attributes can be abbreviated as a single
       letter.

         <attribute>[.<value>]

       These are the supported attributes, in the order of the weighted prece-
       dence:


       template, t
              Valid  when  the  value  matches a supported template processor.
              See the TEMPLATES section for more details.

       user, u
              Valid if the value matches the current user.   Current  user  is
              calculated by running id -u -n.

       distro, d
              Valid  if the value matches the distro.  Distro is calculated by
              running lsb_release -si or by inspecting the  ID  from  /etc/os-
              release.

       os, o  Valid  if the value matches the OS.  OS is calculated by running
              uname -s.

       class, c
              Valid if the value matches the local.class configuration.  Class
              must be manually set using yadm config local.class <class>.  See
              the  CONFIGURATION  section  for  more  details  about   setting
              local.class.

       hostname, h
              Valid if the value matches the short hostname.  Hostname is cal-
              culated by running uname -n, and trimming off any domain.

       default
              Valid when no other alternate is valid.


       NOTE: The OS for "Windows Subsystem for Linux" is  reported  as  "WSL",
       even though uname identifies as "Linux".

       You  may use any number of conditions, in any order.  An alternate will
       only be used if ALL conditions are valid.  For  all  files  managed  by
       yadm's  repository  or  listed  in  $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt, if they
       match this naming convention, symbolic links will be  created  for  the
       most appropriate version.

       The "most appropriate" version is determined by calculating a score for
       each version of a file. A template is always  scored  higher  than  any
       symlink  condition. The number of conditions is the next largest factor
       in scoring.  Files with more conditions will  always  be  favored.  Any
       invalid condition will disqualify that file completely.

       If you don't care to have all versions of alternates stored in the same
       directory  as  the  generated  symlink,  you  can  place  them  in  the
       $HOME/.config/yadm/alt  directory.  The  generated symlink or processed
       template will be created using the same relative path.

       Alternate linking may best be demonstrated by example. Assume the  fol-
       lowing files are managed by yadm's repository:

         - $HOME/path/example.txt##default
         - $HOME/path/example.txt##class.Work
         - $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin
         - $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin,hostname.host1
         - $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin,hostname.host2
         - $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux
         - $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux,hostname.host1
         - $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux,hostname.host2

       If running on a Macbook named "host2", yadm will create a symbolic link
       which looks like this:

       $HOME/path/example.txt    ->    $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin,host-
       name.host2

       However, on another Mackbook named "host3", yadm will create a symbolic
       link which looks like this:

       $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Darwin

       Since the hostname doesn't match any of the  managed  files,  the  more
       generic version is chosen.

       If running on a Linux server named "host4", the link will be:

       $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##os.Linux

       If running on a Solaris server, the link will use the default version:

       $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##default

       If running on a system, with class set to "Work", the link will be:

       $HOME/path/example.txt -> $HOME/path/example.txt##class.Work

       If  no  "##default"  version exists and no files have valid conditions,
       then no link will be created.

       Links are also created for directories named this way, as long as  they
       have at least one yadm managed file within them.

       yadm will automatically create these links by default. This can be dis-
       abled using the yadm.auto-alt configuration.  Even if  disabled,  links
       can be manually created by running yadm alt.

       Class  is  a special value which is stored locally on each host (inside
       the local repository). To use alternate symlinks using class, you  must
       set  the  value  of class using the configuration local.class.  This is
       set like any other yadm configuration with the yadm config command. The
       following sets the class to be "Work".

         yadm config local.class Work

       Similarly,  the  values of os, hostname, and user can be manually over-
       ridden using the configuration options  local.os,  local.hostname,  and
       local.user.


## TEMPLATES
       If  a template condition is defined in an alternate file's "##" suffix,
       and the necessary dependencies for the template are available, then the
       file will be processed to create or overwrite files.

       Supported template processors:

       default
              This  is  yadm's  built-in template processor. This processor is
              very basic, with a Jinja-like syntax. The advantage of this pro-
              cessor  is  that it only depends upon awk, which is available on
              most *nix systems. To use this processor, specify the  value  of
              "default" or just leave the value off (e.g. "##template").

       j2cli  To  use the j2cli Jinja template processor, specify the value of
              "j2"  or "j2cli".

       envtpl To use the envtpl Jinja template processor, specify the value of
              "j2" or "envtpl".


       NOTE:  Specifying  "j2"  as  the processor will attempt to use j2cli or
       envtpl, whichever is available.

       If the template processor specified is  available,  templates  will  be
       processed to create or overwrite files.

       During  processing,  the  following variables are available in the tem-
       plate:

        Default         Jinja           Description
        -------------   -------------   --------------------------
        yadm.class      YADM_CLASS      Locally defined yadm class
        yadm.distro     YADM_DISTRO     lsb_release -si
        yadm.hostname   YADM_HOSTNAME   uname -n (without domain)
        yadm.os         YADM_OS         uname -s
        yadm.user       YADM_USER       id -u -n
        yadm.source     YADM_SOURCE     Template filename

       NOTE: The OS for "Windows Subsystem for Linux" is  reported  as  "WSL",
       even though uname identifies as "Linux".

       NOTE:  If lsb_release is not available, DISTRO will be the ID specified
       in /etc/os-release.

       Examples:

       whatever##template with the following content

         {% if yadm.user == 'harvey' %}
         config={{yadm.class}}-{{yadm.os}}
         {% else %}
         config=dev-whatever
         {% endif %}

       would output a file named whatever with the following  content  if  the
       user is "harvey":

         config=work-Linux

       and the following otherwise:

         config=dev-whatever

       An  equivalent  Jinja  template  named whatever##template.j2 would look
       like:

         {% if YADM_USER == 'harvey' -%}
         config={{YADM_CLASS}}-{{YADM_OS}}
         {% else -%}
         config=dev-whatever
         {% endif -%}


## ENCRYPTION
       It can be useful to manage confidential files, like SSH  or  GPG  keys,
       across  multiple  systems.  However, doing so would put plain text data
       into a Git repository, which often resides on a public system. yadm can
       make  it  easy  to  encrypt and decrypt a set of files so the encrypted
       version can be maintained in the Git  repository.   This  feature  will
       only work if the gpg(1) command is available.

       To  use  this  feature, a list of patterns must be created and saved as
       $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt.  This list of patterns should  be  relative
       to the configured work-tree (usually $HOME).  For example:

                  .ssh/*.key
                  .gnupg/*.gpg

       Standard filename expansions (*, ?, [) are supported.  If you have Bash
       version 4, you may use "**" to match all subdirectories.   Other  shell
       expansions like brace and tilde are not supported.  Spaces in paths are
       supported, and should not be quoted.  If a directory is specified,  its
       contents will be included, but not recursively.  Paths beginning with a
       "!" will be excluded.

       The yadm encrypt command will find all files matching the patterns, and
       prompt  for  a  password.  Once  a password has confirmed, the matching
       files will be encrypted and saved as $HOME/.config/yadm/files.gpg.  The
       patterns  and  files.gpg should be added to the yadm repository so they
       are available across multiple systems.

       To decrypt these files later, or on another system run yadm decrypt and
       provide  the  correct password.  After files are decrypted, permissions
       are automatically updated as described in the PERMISSIONS section.

       Symmetric encryption is used by default, but asymmetric encryption  may
       be enabled using the yadm.gpg-recipient configuration.

       NOTE:  It is recommended that you use a private repository when keeping
       confidential files, even though they are encrypted.

       Patterns found in $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt are automatically added to
       the  repository's  info/exclude  file  every  time yadm encrypt is run.
       This is to prevent accidentally committing sensitive data to the repos-
       itory.  This can be disabled using the yadm.auto-exclude configuration.


## PERMISSIONS
       When files are checked out of a Git repository, their  initial  permis-
       sions  are  dependent upon the user's umask. Because of this, yadm will
       automatically update the permissions of some file  paths.  The  "group"
       and "others" permissions will be removed from the following files:

       - $HOME/.config/yadm/files.gpg

       - All files matching patterns in $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt

       - The SSH directory and files, .ssh/*

       - The GPG directory and files, .gnupg/*

       yadm will automatically update permissions by default. This can be dis-
       abled using the yadm.auto-perms configuration. Even if  disabled,  per-
       missions  can  be  manually  updated  by  running yadm perms.  The .ssh
       directory processing can be disabled using the yadm.ssh-perms  configu-
       ration.  The  .gnupg  directory  processing  can  be disabled using the
       yadm.gpg-perms configuration.

       When cloning a repo which includes data in a .ssh or .gnupg  directory,
       if  those  directories  do  not exist at the time of cloning, yadm will
       create the directories with mask 0700 prior to merging the fetched data
       into the work-tree.

       When running a Git command and .ssh or .gnupg directories do not exist,
       yadm will create those directories with mask 0700 prior to running  the
       Git command. This can be disabled using the yadm.auto-private-dirs con-
       figuration.


## HOOKS
       For every command yadm supports, a  program  can  be  provided  to  run
       before  or  after  that command. These are referred to as "hooks". yadm
       looks for hooks in the directory $HOME/.config/yadm/hooks.   Each  hook
       is named using a prefix of pre_ or post_, followed by the command which
       should trigger the hook. For example, to create a  hook  which  is  run
       after  every  yadm  pull command, create a hook named post_pull.  Hooks
       must have the executable file permission set.

       If a pre_ hook is defined, and the hook terminates with a non-zero exit
       status,  yadm  will  refuse  to run the yadm command. For example, if a
       pre_commit hook is defined, but that command ends with a non-zero  exit
       status,  the  yadm commit will never be run. This allows one to "short-
       circuit" any operation using a pre_ hook.

       Hooks have the following environment variables  available  to  them  at
       runtime:

       YADM_HOOK_COMMAND
              The command which triggered the hook

       YADM_HOOK_EXIT
              The exit status of the yadm command

       YADM_HOOK_FULL_COMMAND
              The yadm command with all command line arguments

       YADM_HOOK_REPO
              The path to the yadm repository

       YADM_HOOK_WORK
              The path to the work-tree


## FILES
       All  of  yadm's  configurations  are  relative to the "yadm directory".
       yadm uses the "XDG Base  Directory  Specification"  to  determine  this
       directory.   If the environment variable $XDG_CONFIG_HOME is defined as
       a fully qualified path, this directory will  be  $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/yadm.
       Otherwise it will be $HOME/.config/yadm.

       The  following  are the default paths yadm uses for its own data.  Most
       of these paths can be altered using universal options.  See the OPTIONS
       section for details.

       $HOME/.config/yadm
              The yadm directory. By default, all data yadm stores is relative
              to this directory.

       $YADM_DIR/config
              Configuration file for yadm.

       $YADM_DIR/alt
              This is a directory to keep  "alternate  files"  without  having
              them  side-by-side  with the resulting symlink or processed tem-
              plate. Alternate files placed in this directory will be  created
              relative to $HOME instead.

       $YADM_DIR/repo.git
              Git repository used by yadm.

       $YADM_DIR/encrypt
              List of globs used for encrypt/decrypt

       $YADM_DIR/files.gpg
              All files encrypted with yadm encrypt are stored in this file.


## EXAMPLES
       yadm init
              Create an empty repo for managing files

       yadm add .bash_profile ; yadm commit
              Add .bash_profile to the Git index and create a new commit

       yadm remote add origin <url>
              Add a remote origin to an existing repository

       yadm push -u origin master
              Initial push of master to origin

       echo .ssh/*.key >> $HOME/.config/yadm/encrypt
              Add a new pattern to the list of encrypted files

       yadm encrypt ; yadm add ~/.config/yadm/files.gpg ; yadm commit
              Commit a new set of encrypted files


## REPORTING BUGS
       Report issues or create pull requests at GitHub:

       https://github.com/TheLocehiliosan/yadm/issues


## AUTHOR
       Tim Byrne <sultan@locehilios.com>


## SEE ALSO
       git(1), gpg(1)

       https://yadm.io/